Classifiers in Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonquian

Classifiers in Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonquian LISA CONATHAN University of California, Berkeley 0. Introduction and the Typology of Nominal Classification Wiyot and Yurok, Algic languages of northwestern California, have a complex system of classifiers in which a classificatory morpheme delimits the properties (primarily shape) of arguments of numerals and verbs.1 These morphemes also show up in nominal morphology, on nouns with verbal roots. The classificatory system of Yurok has been described in Robins’ (1958) grammar and in Haas’ (1967) article “Language and taxonomy in northwestern California.” Wiyot classifiers are described in Reichard’s (1925) grammar, and to a lesser extent in Tee- ter’s (1964) grammar. Teeter worked with the last native speaker of Wiyot, who did not use many of the classifiers. In this paper I expand on these descriptions and compare the classifiers of Wiyot and Yurok to each other and to those of Al- gonquian languages. Classifiers in Wiyot and Yurok are clearly comparable to Algonquian classificatory medials. I also discuss how the Algic classifiers fit into the typology of classifiers proposed by Aikhenvald (2000). I hope to clarify and correct some statements that have been made about Yurok and Wiyot in the literature on classifiers by showing that these classifiers occur on verbs other than numerals, that is, they are not only numeral classifiers, and that Wiyot has as extensive a system of classifiers as Yurok does. In (1) I give some basic data that illustrate the phenomenon of classifiers. The data show the verb roots ‘to be big’ in Wiyot and ‘to be black’ Yurok, with different classificatory suffixes that indicate the shape or animacy of the subject of the verb. As is usual with classificatory morphemes, they classify the subject of intransitive verbs, and the object of transitive verbs. 2 (1) WIYOT (T&N 1993) YUROK (R 1958, lexicon) dotap ‘be a big hairlike object’ lo’oge’Ton- ‘be a black straight object’ dotatk ‘be a big round object’ lT’TgTh ‘be a black round object’ dotok ‘be a big long object’ lT’TgTy- ‘be a black animal or bird’ 1 Note that numerals are morphologically verbs. 2 Abbreviations of data sources are as follows: S/B = Berman, ed.; P = Proulx; H = Haas; S = Sapir; K = Kroeber; T = Teeter; R = Reichard; T&N = Teeter and Nichols. 22 Classifiers in Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonquian In (2) I give some relevant information from Aikhenvald’s recent typology of noun categorization. Classifiers associated with numerals are usually referred to as numeral classifiers, and Aikhenvald considers the classifiers of Yurok and Wi- yot to fall into this category (2000:123), as does Mithun (1999). (2) Aikhenvald’s (2000) typology of Noun Categorization Devices “Numeral classifiers…are realized outside the noun in a numeral NP, and/or in expressions of quantity. Numeral classifiers can be free forms, or affixes, typically to the numeral or quantifier. They refer to the noun in terms of its inherent properties” (Aikhenvald 2000:17). Verbal classifiers “appear on the verb, categorizing the referent of its argument in terms of its shape, consistency, size, structure, position, and animacy” (Aikhenvald 2000:149). Labeling these classifiers numeral classifiers, however, ignores their productive and prevalent usage on verbs. Aikhenvald has a separate category of verbal classifiers, which includes all classification strategies associated with verbs. She names three sub-types of verbal classifiers: classificatory noun incorporation, classificatory verbal affixes, and suppletive classificatory verbs. When explaining the different morphological types of verbal classifiers, Aik- henvald cites data from the Algonquian language Ojibwe as an example of classificatory verbs. The data cited in Aikhenvald (2000) is reproduced in (3). (3) Ojibwe classifiers sak-Ưk-inƗn ‘to hold on to something sheet-like’ sakit-ƗpƯ-ssin ‘be sticking out (string-like object)’ kotako-minak-ipitǀn ‘to roll over something round-like’ kotako-minak-issƝ ‘something round-like rolls over’ (Denny 1979:107, as cited in Aikhenvald 2000:155) As in the California Algic languages, classifiers in Ojibwe and other Algonquian languages are distinct morphemes that appear on numerals and verbs (data from numerals is not shown here). The affixes in (3) classify the intransitive subject and transitive object as ‘sheet-like’, ‘string-like’, or ‘round’. Due to their distribution on numerals and verbs, these classifiers are better termed simply classificatory affixes. Compare the Ojibwe data in (3) to the suppletive verbs in Mescalero Apache (Athapaskan), shown in (4). In Mescalero Apache, there are sets of suppletive verbs that classify their S or O argument. There are categories for round objects, long flexible objects and long rigid objects. 23 Lisa Conathan (4) Classificatory verbs meaning ‘to be located’ in Mescalero Apache (Athapaskan) -’a ‘single, solid, round inanimate object’ -tK ‘single animate object’ -la ‘dual objects of any kind; a rope-like object’ -tC ‘elongated, rigid object; a stick-like object’ - -tsuus ‘flexible ofject; a cloth-like object’ -ka ‘a rigid container with its contents’ -jaash ‘plural objects of any kind; uncontained dry and loose granular substance’ -t e ‘uncontained wet or damp mass’ - -tC ‘flexible container with its contents’ -’a ‘indefinitely shaped single solid object’ (Rushforth 1991:253, as cited in Aikhenvald 2000:155) Categorizing Ojibwe and Mescalero Apache together as classificatory verbs both obscures the similarity of Algonquian verbal and numeral classifiers, and obscures the difference between the morphology of verbal affixation in Algon- quian and suppletion in Athapaskan. In Aikhenvald’s typology, both the Califor- nia Algic languages and Algonquian languages were categorized in a way that obscures the similarity of their classificatory systems. The classifiers of Yurok and Wiyot have properties both of prototypical numeral classifiers and of prototypical verbal classifiers. This should not be surpris- ing, considering that numerals in these languages are morphologically verbs (Robins 1985), but it creates a classifier system that is not easily categorized in a typology that relies on distinguishing nouns, numerals, and verbs. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. In §1 I describe the attested classifiers in Wiyot and Yurok; in §2 I discuss their distribution on numerals, verbs, and nouns derived from verbal roots; and in §3 I very briefly compare the morphology and semantics of these classifiers to those in Algonquian languages. 1. Classifiers in Wiyot and Yurok In (5) and (6) are lists of Wiyot and Yurok classifiers, though this is surely still a partial list. There are about 25 classifiers in each language, although a few of them are sound symbolic variants of the same morpheme. 24 Classifiers in Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonquian (5) Wiyot classifiers3 ditad ‘two (generic count)’ (K ms., R 1925, T 1964) ditatk ‘two spherical things’ (R 1925, T 1964) dicack ‘two small spherical things’ (R 1925) ditok ‘two long things’ (T ms.) ditetk ‘two round, flat things’ (R 1925) dote’l ‘be large (flat thing)’ (R 1925) kucap ‘one hairlike object’ (T 1964) lun ‘weave (long flexible thing)’ (T&N 1993) ditbeskid ‘two pieces’ (T ms.) ditakd ‘two strips’ (T ms.) ditabotad ‘two strings of dentalia’ (R 1925, T ms.) ditbesupo’w ‘two measures of dentalia’ (R 1925, T ms.) kucebo’n ‘one fathom’ (K ms., T&N 1993) kucawe’n ‘one day’ (T ms.) ditbe ‘two days’ (R 1925) ditabok ‘two days’ (R 1925, T&N 1993) ditatkatolakw ‘two months’ (T ms.) kuceyutoyagadak ‘one year’ (T ms., K ms.) ditbegalabagadak ‘two years’ (R 1925) ditbelu e’l ‘two years (of sea-lions)’ (R 1925) ditoki’war ‘two salmon, sturgeon’ (T ms.) ditawokw ‘two salmon’ (T&N 1993) ditbisetk ‘two blankets’ (R 1925) kucako il ‘one tooth’ (T ms.) kutkošil ‘one head’ (T ms.) ditbalagata’l ‘two deer in a herd’ (R 1925) ditk e’l ‘two deer lying’ (R 1925) ditawakw e’l ‘two deerskins’ (R 1925) dotbal ‘be large (buildings)’ (R 1925, T 1964) (6) Yurok classifiers na’a’(n) ‘two (default count)’ (S ms., R 1958, H ms.) nr’r’r’y ‘two animals, birds’ (K 1911, S ms., R 1958, H ms.) ni’iyehl ‘two human beings’ (K 1911, S ms., R 1958) na’a’r ‘two straight things’ (R 1958, H ms.) na’ak’ ‘two long flexible things’ (S ms., R 1958, H ms.) chprrnryk- ‘be long (a stream)’ (R 1958) na’ak’wo’n ‘two bushy things’ (R 1958) no’oh ‘two round things’ (S ms., K 1911, R 1958, H ms.) no’ok’s ‘two flat things’ (R 1958) nr’rpi’ ‘two pointed objects’ (K 1911, H ms., R 1958) kohchekin ‘one strand’ (H ms.) kohtep’ ‘one tree’ (R 1958, H ms.) kaamop ‘be rough (water)’ (R 1958) 3 Note that the orthographic representation of some of these forms is questionable, since (a) some of them are attested only once, and may have been mistranscribed, and (b) some of these forms are attested only in Reichard’s material, which makes the transliteration of vowels in her (non- phonemic) orthography potentially problematic. 25 Lisa Conathan Yurok classifiers cont. na’mi ‘two times’ (K 1911, R 1958) na’ay(tani) ‘two strings of dentalia’ (K 1911, S ms.) na’amoy ‘two fathoms’ (K 1911) na’amoyhl ‘two nights’ (K 1911, S/B) na’eyn ‘two days’ (K 1911, S ms.) na’apir ‘two finger joints’4 (K 1911, R 1958) na’amrysh ‘two arm’s lengths’ (R 1958) nrhksryhl ‘three white deerskins’ (K 1911) nr’r’ryihl ‘two deerskins’ (H ms.) na’ey(teli) ‘two boats’ (K 1911, R 1958, H ms.) na’a’li ‘two houses’ (R 1958, H ms.) nr’rh(kr’) ‘two woodpecker scalps’ (K 1911, H ms.) Starting with Wiyot, the most commonly encountered classifiers designate shape, such as ‘spherical thing’ and ‘round flat thing’ and ‘long thing’.

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